Martha Claugus Marks Three Decades with Alaska Railroad

Many high schoolers spend their summers working as a lifeguard or at a local restaurant.  

Senior year, Martha Claugus worked as a tour guide for Alaska Railroad.  

“It’s a pretty cool program because the tourists get a real Alaskan kid who is also very knowledgeable in the history of the railroad. You know what you’re seeing outside your window, that sort of thing,” she explained.  

She planned to go to college and work as a brakeman over the summer, because it would help pay for her room and board at school.  

Little did she know that her summer job would lead to a 30-year career.  

“I was making so much money and doing a job that was incredibly interesting…way more interesting than working in a coffee shop or sitting in a cubicle,” she said. “So I decided to keep on going. Within two years, I was fully promoted to an engineer, and there was just really no turning back at that point. It was time to stay and make this my career.”  

Regular paycheck evolves into a second family

After becoming a union member in September 1997, Claugus quickly realized that she was part of something so much more than a career.  

“[The union] is there to support you in every way, not just getting you better benefits but also supporting you when you have incidents, even outside personal and family issues,” she explained. “We’ve had lots of members who have had family issues, and the union rallies together and supports them.”  

For example, when a union sister’s home burned down several years ago the local rallied together to get her new furniture and a GoFundMe to help rebuild her life.  

“The union pulls together and supports their employees through everything: life incidents, work incidents, whatever. I think that’s one of the best things about being a member of the union is just the support that you get and the kind of constant knowing that someone always has your back around here.” 

That’s an idea that she believes is starting to reach non-members, too.  

“Being a member, of this union in particular, has absolutely made this job easier for me and made mine and my family’s life better,” she said. “The fights that the union has put up for, not just for me but for the entire membership are all things that people who aren’t union members are kind of realizing what they’ve given up, that really affect your quality of life.” 

Changing times bring new attitudes 

Sister Claugus has seen her fair share of changes over her career. One of the most noticeable shifts is the atmosphere and attitude towards women on the job. 

“When I hired out 28 years ago, women weren’t necessarily welcome in a lot of ways,” she remembered. “You had to really prove yourself, and it could be demeaning at times. I think a lot of attitudes have changed. Women are a lot more accepted.” 

That wasn’t the case when she hired on. She estimates that there are about twice as many women in the local today as when she started out. 

“I was told that I was taking a man’s job…that I was basically taking food out of some other family’s mouth, because I was taking up a space that a man could take to support his family,” she said. “No recognition of my own family, just their family. I can’t possibly imagine, at least on my railroad, someone saying that to one of the women who work here now.” 

Ultimately, her choice to work was the best decision for her family, and she wants her union sisters to know the power to make that decision belongs to them, regardless of the outside noise.  

“I think that the most important thing that women as a whole and humans as a whole need to recognize is it’s important that we have that choice,” she pointed out. “We can choose to stay home or choose not to stay home. Whatever is going to be best for us and our family. I’m absolutely a better parent, because I went to work every day and gave myself a feeling of accomplishment for coming to work every day and earning for my family and doing good things at work.” 

Charting new territory for women on Alaska Railroad

When it comes to other women who want to work in the rail industry, Sister Claugus acknowledges that it’s sometimes easier said than done. 

“It’s a difficult industry to see yourself breaking into, right?” she asked. “Especially on the rail side, it’s difficult in a lot of ways, especially for engineers on freight trains because we’re very nameless and faceless. People don’t really see us; they just see the engine go by because the windows are closed most of the time.” 

Sister Claugus explains that not seeing an actual person do the job can be intimidating, but it’s not an impossible hurdle to overcome.  

“Put women more towards the forefront so that other women can look at that or little girls,” she suggests. “When other women can look at that woman and say ‘Well, she could do that. I’m certain I could, too.’ To show people that we’re here and that it can be done, because in a lot of cases, until you see someone else doing it, you don’t understand that you can, too.”